Patience gains foothold for Finnish cleantech in Vietnam

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Patience gains foothold for Finnish cleantech in Vietnam

Dec 9, 2016

Clean water

Water technology

For a while, Finnish cleantech companies have been rooting their foundation in Vietnam. The main feature of the emerging success stories has been patient and consistent work with the help of Finpro. The local water-related VietWater Expo has become the annual place to meet and collaborate with the key stakeholders in the Vietnamese clean technology industry. Cleantech Finland's Clean Water export program was at this year's VietWater expo with the Finpro-led Finnish delegation.

In the autumn of 2016, a Finnish cleantech company SansOx landed their first deal in Vietnam. Behind the concrete deal was a thorough fact finding and identifying of potential customers, backed by Finpro’s experiences and connections.

SansOx’s product called OxTube enriches dissolved oxygen in water, which is an especially important process for aquaculture industries. In 2015, when the company joined the delegation at the Vietwater Expo in Vietnam, the experiments of OxTube had been successfully carried out in Nordic countries, while practical applications in tropical conditions were missing.

At the expo, SansOx approached Finpro with their interest in promoting OxTube to the Vietnamese aquaculture industry. Little less than one year later – as the next VietWater Expo was just around the corner – the first trial sales and application of OxTube were done with a Vietnamese buyer Van Xuan Fish Farm.

In the setup, Finpro played the role of an enabler, by opening the right doors and networking with the right stakeholders.

Long-lasting effect

Vietwater Expo in Saigon has gained reputation as one of the key occasions to build up business relations in the Vietnamese and wider South East Asian water sectors. There really is not a better place to meet local water sector companies or seek partnerships and joint ventures.

From the Finnish viewpoint, Vietnam represents one of the more promising markets for cleantech, as the country is planning multi-billion dollar investments, for instance, in the local water infrastructure.

For Finpro, the year 2016 marked the fourth time of presence at the expo. It also marked the first time the Finnish pavilion got recognition as the best stand of the whole event. Altogether 15 Finnish companies were present in Saigon, gaining dozens of potential sales leads, new contacts and further negotiations.

The previously mentioned case of SansOx describes incisively the ever-present basic logic of buying decisions of investment goods; they take time. Being well aware of this fundamental logic, Finpro consistently helps Finnish companies to gain leads from the South East Asian market. The ultimate virtue has been patience and tenacious attitude.

In the end, some of the leads turn into actual deals. Just ask SansOx.